Where Dragons Dare
by Fenrisulven13
Summary: A land ruled by a ruthless overlord, This is the story of a young knight and a young witch finding themselves on opposite sides. (I'm worthless at summaries, plus I hope the rating is enough). AU.
1. Chance encounter

**YEP I thought I'd try my hand at a little fantasy/romance here.**

**Some of my OC's from my other story may make an appearance.**

The old Kingdom of Terrania had once been ruled by benevolent kings and queens for thousands of years, but the royal line had died out and then half the kingdom fell to the merciless Lord Lucal Blackheart of Draukkea and his black knights.

There were two beautiful green valleys' in Terrania, Terra valley and Nova Rose valley that had fallen to Lord Lucal, Terra valley was still unconquered and stood defiant against Lucal while Nova Rose valley suffered under his evil rule.

In the mountains between the two valleys stood the ruins of the once proud Castle Terra, the ancient home of the old kings of Terrania.

Lord Lucal despised these people, to him they were little more than slaves – slaves to be used by him whenever he wanted with WHATEVER he wanted.  
He turned to the young knight who was also his little brother kneeling in front of his throne,

"It is time you start seeing the realm you may one day rule little brother" he said while glaring at his brother.  
"It will be good for you, might even give you some character….finally." he continued,

"I will not disappoint you my lord", the knight answered respectfully,

"Good Marcus, I'm sending you to Nova Rose valley to help the prefect there, BUT you will not try to interfere with his duties unless they go against my orders is that clear, Marcus?" Lucal said, he knew Marcus didn't like to be called by his full name, it was his mother's fault she had called him Mark instead, she had been just as sentimental and weak as Marcus, but Marcus was his only heir after all.

"Yes my lord" Mark answered dutifully and rose, backed up a bit and then turned to leave for his chambers.

Mark didn't agree with how his brother ruled and tried as often as he could to lessen the plight of the people, who suffered greatly and even starved since Lucal's prefects taxed them so hard they barely had any food for themselves.  
Mark entered his chambers and collected what he decided he would need for the trip, this would be his first trip outside Draukkea and despite everything he felt excited, Mark even packed his two petrified dragon eggs he was given by his mother before she died,  
he didn't trust them with his brother, one was golden the other black as coal, he also packed down the ring his mother had given him, it was in the form of two dragons intertwined holding a purple dragon pearl in between their mouths as they joined.

After having packed what he needed Mark went to the stables and took out his horse Hazard a black powerful war steed, Hazard was in his usual grumpy mood and snapped a couple of times when Mark started saddling him,

"Behave my friend" he said gently, and got a harrumph as an answer from the horse, he laughed and petted Hazard on his mane before he mounted up and rode out of his brother's dark castle with his own personal guard from the order of the Dragon Knights, these men had served under him fighting goblins in the ancient mountains of Draukkea and were unquestioningly loyal to him, mostly because he always treated them as equals under the code of chivalry, and because he never asked anything of them he would not do himself.

Mark had only read about Terrania, the people were said to be warm-hearted as well as spirited and freedom loving, the land itself were told to be forever green and beautiful, always lush unlike his own homelands dark mountains.

Madelyn Shannon had managed to sneak out of the town to her secret cave in the forest where she could spend some time alone, Maddy as she was more commonly called lived after the circumstances a happy life as it was possible under Lord Lucal's rule, before the black knights took over her Father Jim had been the Sheriff and her mother was a witch and the towns healer something Maddy had inherited, though such arts was highly frowned upon by the draukkeans and the prefect in particular so they had to keep it a secret, Maddy was utterly terrified of them, as she could feel mostly evil in their hearts.

Her parents usually forbade her to leave the house since the prefect and his men had little regard for men and even less for women.

Since the draukkeans had taken every book or scroll they could find in the valley, Maddy had no way of learning of her powers or new spells so she simply came to this cave to practice on her magic powers, her mother had said she would most likely become more powerful than even hers.

As Maddy sat there playing with a light spell she heard the sound of approaching horses, she discontinued the spell immediately and tried to hide, the horses came to a stop just outside the cave they wore the black tabard of Lord Lucal's knights over their plate armour, before she could stop herself Maddy gasped, the lead knight suddenly stopped and looked in her direction.  
He came forward with his sword drawn and rounded the rock she hid behind and grabbed her pulling her out of the cave,

"OH please sir, don't hurt me", she whimpered

Mark loosened his grip on what he first had thought was a boy until her cloaks hood fell off her head and revealed the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life, he couldn't help but stare like some village idiot.  
She had long and thick raven hair and her eyes looked like a combination of amber and honey, her skin was olive toned with a hint of gold in it, and her ears were slightly pointed almost elfish looking.

Maddy was terrified that the black clad knight was going to hurt her until he seemed to loosen his grip, he took off his closed helmet and then she saw a young and handsome face, and his eyes….His eyes was beautiful they seemed to have a mix of green grey and blue in them as if whatever god created him had been undecided as to what colour to give his eyes, those eyes lacked any semblance of evil in them as they studied her for what seemed like an eternity.

Maddy stared up into his face, he could not be much older than her own sixteen years AND he was handsome, but he was wearing the uniform of the enemy "Why?" she thought to herself.

"Are you alright?" Mark asked her; she still looked frightened but seemed to have calmed down,

"Yes sir", she answered still with trembling voice,

"You have nothing to fear from me or my men my lady" Mark stated,

"But it's forbidden for us to be outside the gates, unless under guard" Maddy said unsurely,

Mark could see her bottom lip was trembling which made his heart ache, something he could not understand but he wanted to make her feel safe, he wanted to protect her, there were tears in her eyes which nearly broke his heart.

"Do not worry fair maiden, consider yourself under my guard then", Mark assured her and smiled.

"What is your name, maiden?" he asked courteously.

"Madelyn Shannon, but everyone calls me Maddy because Madelyn sounds so formal, plus it was the name of a queen long ago" Maddy rambled which made Mark smile, Maddy's cheeks started going a bright pink which got ever more red, "Does this girl have ANY flaws at all?", Mark thought,

"You certainly have the beauty of a queen", he said and bowed deep to her, his men followed his example, this all made Maddy's face burn even more, no boy or man had ever shown her such respect before and these were draukkeans who were said to be without honour or kindness, her brother was always acting like an oaf even though he was kind hearted.

"My name is Knight-captain Marcus, but you may call me Mark, at your service your majesty", he said jokingly with a smile.

Maddy curtsied as best she could still blushing heavily.

"Sir I don't think I should call you by name like that, the prefect always says we have to call him and his soldiers by rank", she said nervously,

"Well then you may call me Sir Mark" Mark smiled again, which almost made her swoon.

"Please let us escort you back to town, there may be dangerous beasts around", Mark offered kindly,

Maddy nodded and he lifted her up into the saddle, the large horse at first gave her an angry look but she soothed him by caressing him behind the ear, Mark looked surprised,

"First time I see him reacting so nice" Mark said, which earned him a harrumph from Hazard.

Mark mounted himself and with Maddy in front of him they rode off towards the town.  
Maddy couldn't explain it but she felt oddly secure with him, he seemed different then all the other draukkeans, he reminded her of those knights in the bedtime stories her father used to tell her.

As they reached the main gate of Nova Rose which was the name of the town, the guards stood at stiff attention when they approached.

"Evening Knight-captain, we were told of your coming sir, have you captured a runaway?" the head guard asked with a wicked smirk,

"No I found her lost in the mountains" Mark said, it was partially a lie but he didn't want her to get into trouble for most likely sneaking out, and Mark couldn't really blame her for that he may be a draukkean himself but he was painfully aware of his peoples cruelty against hers.

"So where are your house then gentle maiden?" Mark asked with a smile,

Maddy pointed to the main street and said; "It's the large white one down the main street, Sir Mark".

Mark turned to one of his men,

"Sir Dunham you go with the men to the barracks and get them settled in, I shall be there shortly", he said, the man Dunham saluted Mark.

"Yes sir", he acknowledged, and gave the orders to the rest of the twenty men strong force.

Mark rode down the street with Maddy and when they came to the house Maddy had mentioned he jumped down and helped her down as well.

"_He's like the knights from the stories_", she thought, as he followed her to the door.

Before Maddy had a chance of opening the door it practically flew open to reveal a woman probably in her mid-thirties but still beautiful. Her skin was somewhat darker than Maddy's and with brown kind eyes despite her distraught appearance; Mark could see where Maddy got her beauty from.

"Maddy, WHERE in the name of the gods have you been girl?" she exclaimed worriedly and embraced Maddy.

"It's all right mother, I was just …lost" Maddy answered. Her mother turned to Mark,

"Please good sir she will be punished for running off, please don't take her away" She pleaded,

"Madam you have nothing to worry about, and please do not punish her she has been through enough as it is being …lost, I think she has learned her lesson" Mark said with a smirk towards Maddy who blushed again.

"I thank you good sir for bringing my daughter home safe" the mother said,

"Madam it was no trouble at all, it was my honour to see to your daughter's safe return" Mark said and removed his helmet and took Maddy's right hand and brushed her knuckles with his lips,

"Until we meet again then, Miss Shannon" he said and bowed, Maddy gave him a dazzling smile and was blushing even more now which, made her seem even more beautiful and her eyes seemed to sparkle.  
Mark then turned around and mounted up and rode off, thinking about Maddy, even though he had only known her for a few hours which was strange he thought.

After closing the door her mother turned to Maddy,

"I've told you to stay in the house, at least to NOT show yourself to those vile beasts" she berated her daughter,

"But mother, Mark …I mean Sir Mark seems very nice" She retorted innocently",

"Just be careful, I don't want you to get hurt" her mother stated.

Maddy went to her room and thought of Sir Mark, even though she had only known him for a few hours which were strange she thought.

**So that's the first chapter, I may continue it depending. Leave a review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Loyalty

**Well here's chapter 2. Yes yes I do not own Terra Nova yada yada yada …..YADA!(does anyone even care about these disclaimers?).**

Maddy lay in her bed in the room she shared with her little sister Zoe, trying to sleep but couldn't, every time she closed her eyes all she could see were Marks face and his kind smile,  
Her parents had given her a stern warning to be careful of this young knight, she knew he was a draukkean, an enemy, true her loyalty was to her family and her people but there was something about Mark that intrigued her and she decided to find out, her eyelids finally shut and she fell asleep.

Mark had settled in at the barracks, Mark refused to have more comfort than his knights, he believed firmly in the ideals his mother had taught him, he couldn't stop thinking of the girl with the raven hair and the amber eyes, he drifted off to sleep.

Mark awoke bright and early as he always did and together with his knights said their morning prayer to Tiamath the dragon goddess; most draukkeans worshiped her even though Lucal had imposed worship of the burning god which was in reality a demon and it's symbol was the Infernal flame that all soldiers and knights wore on their tabards and shields, most draukkeans were too afraid to question it and the new religion had spread.  
Lucal was also the wielder of the Dragon horn which according to legends was gifted to the ancient lords of Draukkea to call on the help of the Dragons in times of need off course Lucal constantly misused it to terrorize the people of both Draukkea and Nova rose valley.

Lucal's most loyal followers were his personal guard the Knights of the Flame, all were fanatical zealots.

After the prayer Mark went for a walk as the others had their breakfast, The prefect had called him to his chambers, as Mark stepped inside the prefect rose unevenly the man's tremendous girth made it seem a feat by itself,

"Ah, Knight-Captain Marcus I am so pleased to see you" the prefect said with an oily charm,

"I have a letter from your brother ordering me have you settled in with the Shannon family theirs is the largest house in this pathetic excuse for a town" he continued, Mark already despised the man but he didn't show it,

"I would rather be in the barracks with my knights sir, plus I do not wish to impose on the people like this" Mark protested

"These are direct orders from our Lord Lucal young captain" The prefect countered.

"Yes prefect" Mark relented

He went back to the barracks and collected his things, Off course Lucal would want him in nicer quarters, Mark hated it as he knew Lucal had done it just to annoy him, and most likely to show his own power over these people, but it DID give Mark a chance to spend some time getting to know them better and above all Maddy, there was something about her that intrigued him.

As he walked up to the house he steadied himself and knocked on the door,  
the door opened to reveal a real bear of a man with piercing bright blue eyes, Mark felt a bit unsure under the older man's gaze.

"I …um, I was given orders to be settled here, good sir" Mark stuttered, as the man eyed him suspiciously,

"I am Jim Shannon, I have been told that you will be living here, Lord Blackheart" he introduced himself with a growl.

"I am sir Marcus of the dragon knights of Draukkea, and it's not lord sir, you may call me Sir Mark" Mark introduced himself and bowed, this man may not be of noble rank but he was the master of this house and Mark wanted to show proper respect and he did not share his brothers beliefs of _might makes right_ which went totally against the code of chivalry.

Maddy had awoken by the first light and could hear the knocking on the door, she went to her window and could see Mark outside the door, and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach.

Maddy dressed quickly in a plain blue dress and brushed her hair so it fell straight over her shoulders down almost down to her waist and in front of her shoulders.

Jim did NOT like this young whippersnapper, though he behaved courteously towards him but his name Blackheart, the soldier that had told Jim Mark would be staying there had announced that Mark was the brother of Lord Lucal the man everyone both feared and hated, and he seemed to have an interest in his daughter after what his wife Elisabeth had told him about the previous day, though he DID bring Maddy safely home.  
This boy was a mystery to him; ALL draukkeans Jim had met had at best shown nothing but utter contempt for him and his people.

Jim noticed Maddy coming up behind him and smiled at the young knight, he again turned to face the young man.

"I am thankful you brought my daughter home safe yesterday" Jim said with as much courtesy he could muster.

"I would be honored if you'd share our breakfast with us, it is not much but it's the least I can do for my daughter's safe return" he continued, Sir Mark smiled at him.

"Allow me then to provide some of the food for it, sir" Mark said,

"You really don't need to call me sir" Jim stated,

"I understand you were the sheriff here, so I shall call you sir, also since I am a guest at your house I shall show proper respect" Mark said with a nod which Jim returned, turned and saw that Maddy was practically jumping up and down with excitement, "_Off all the boys she could become interested in, WHY HIM?_" he thought angrily, he was also worried what the other people might think of this though it WOULD get the other boys off her scent so to speak he mused.

As the rest of the family came out and greeted Mark, even the eldest child Josh bleary eyed came out and at first looked at Mark with barely contained suspicion and not a little anger, the youngest, Zoe was scared at first and hid behind Elisabeth, as he pulled out a chair for Maddy which made her blush as she sat down, Zoe came out from behind her mother and looked up at Mark.

"Father tells me there are goblins in Draukkea, is that true sir Mark?" Zoe asked cautiously.

"Yes there are" Mark answered with a smile at the girl,

"Are they dangerous?" she asked,

"Only if they think they can win, you see they are quite vicious creatures but they are also cowardly and are easily driven off" Mark answered with a smile,

"Have you fought any?" Zoe asked again

"Yes I spent some time subduing the tribes in the ancient mountains" Mark answered.

"Now Zoe, do not bother the knight with your questions" Elisabeth scolded kindly.

"No bother at all Madam Shannon" Mark said as he began passing out the contents of his bag.

"About sleeping arrangements all we have is a room in the attic it has a bed" Elisabeth then said.  
"I hope that will be satisfactory?" she continued.

"I thank you Madam Shannon, and it will be fine, I understand this is not the best of circumstances for your family, I would rather not impose" Mark said.

Elisabeth smiled warmly at him, "I have to thank you for bringing food and wine, kind sir" she said,

"It was the least I could do madam Shannon, since me being here was imposed on you for which I apologize" Mark said.

"I did not even know Lord Lucal had a brother" Josh blurted out "Or a MOTHER for that matter" he thought bitterly.

Jim gave Josh a glare.

"Well we are quite different my brother and I, as we see things differently" mark said.

The whole time Maddy kept throwing Mark glances whenever she thought anyone wasn't noticing, she was captivated by this young knight, even though she was shocked to learn he was the brother of the very monster of a man that kept her people enslaved, but Mark felt completely different than the prefect and his soldiers.

"As his subject the code compels me to obey my liege, unless it contradicts the code itself, it is one of the oldest laws of Draukkea" mark continued.

"We had similar laws before…." Maddy began and then trailed off, Mark seemed to shrink down, and she cursed inwardly at herself for speaking without thinking.

"I do not agree with my brother's decision to invade, and I do not believe in slavery either, I still carry hope that I may be able to sway his feelings on that" Mark stated sadly.

"Oh please Sir Mark I did not mean to bother you" Maddy said apologetically.

"It is alright Miss Shannon, no bother at all since it is true after all" Mark shrugged and smiled at her.

After breakfast Mark insisted on helping to clear the table, As he and Jim was walking into the house with some of the dishes Maddy looked at Elisabeth,

"Mother he seems so different than the others, he feels very nice" Maddy said smiling,

Elisabeth looked at her daughter with a teasing smirk,

"Is that because of how gorgeous he looks?" She asked teasingly and laughed when Maddy's face started blushing again.

"What are you two clucking about?" Josh asked grouchily as he came up from behind them,

"Nothing at all" Maddy said innocently as she kept blushing.

"Don't you think I saw you making eyes at that black knight?" Josh asked angrily,

This made Maddy turn around, with a confused look in her face.

"And what if I looked at Sir Mark that is none of your affair?"

"HE is the enemy Maddy" Josh stated,

"I can feel he has no evil intent, he seems really nice and he is very polite and well mannered, maybe you could learn from that?" Maddy defended, she was getting angry.

"And for your information he is not of the black knights but of the Dragon knights" she continued.

"You are being naive Maddy, they're all alike those draukkeans, cruel and vindictive and without remorse, and here you are batting your eyelashes at him, as if he was some boy in the town, but he's NOT Maddy" Josh continued.

"Stop it Josh" Maddy pleaded, she knew Josh could be a bit insensitive sometimes but he was going too far now, she felt the tears stinging behind her eyes.

"Even worse he's the brother of Lord Lucal, he's probably exactly the same as him, what you're doing could be called treason" Josh blurted out fuming,

"SHUT UP, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME" she yelled at him, and promptly ran away from the house, she didn't even really understand why she would defend Mark like that, but she could feel no evil in him it was a gift among witches to feel the aura of living beings.

"JOSH" Elisabeth scolded

Mark just came out of the house, and saw Maddy running away, and Elisabeth scolding Josh,

"What happened to Miss Shannon?" he asked worriedly, he'd hate if it was because of him that she ran away.

Elisabeth looked worriedly at the direction Maddy had ran off to, and before she could say anything Mark ran after Maddy, as Jim came out and wondering what all the yelling was about.

Maddy just kept running, and didn't really see where she was running as her eyes was full of tears,  
she ran straight into a group of draukkean soldiers one of them catching her in his arms,

"Well well well, what–have–we here? A little pretty one" the soldier said with a lustful smile, Maddy looked up in terror at them, as the other soldiers started laughing.

Maddy tried breaking free but couldn't,

"Please let me go, I haven't done anything" she pleaded, only for the soldiers to laugh even harder,

"Now now little pretty, don't be shy, we're not going to hurt ya" he said again.

"Leave her alone" Mark said forcefully, Maddy turned to see him coming at them his face and aura full of anger.

The soldier holding Maddy didn't even look up,

"Bugger off, peasant, this is none off your affair" he spat scornfully, and then he looked up and saw the crest on Marks tunic, and released Maddy and backed off as did the other soldiers,

"You go back to your patrol" Mark growled.

As the soldiers march off, Mark turned to Maddy, who was sitting on the ground trying to reign in her tears without any success,

"Let me take you back to the house Miss Shannon" he said all the anger in his voice gone as if it was never there,  
Maddy stood up unsteadily and started crying into his chest, she couldn't stop her sobbing as Mark picked her up and carried her home, by now some townspeople were standing and looking wide eyed at them most eyed Mark suspiciously as he walked by with Maddy.

When they got to the house Maddy had calmed down somewhat, Elisabeth came running as he put her down gently, Elisabeth caught her daughter in a hug,

"Are you alright sweetheart?" she asked Maddy as she led her into the house; Jim came over with a worried look in his face.

"What happened sweetie?" he asked,

"I ran into some soldiers. But Sir Mark helped me" Maddy said with a trembling voice, and he turned toward Mark.

"I owe you a debt of gratitude Sir Mark" he said with an actual smile even though it almost looked like a grimace.

"No thanks are necessary master Shannon sir, I'm just glad I could help, plus some of those soldiers could benefit greatly from a hard lesson in how to treat a lady" Mark said seriously, still with a hint of anger in his voice.

Jim looked after Mark as he went to the stable to look after his horse, "He seems different than the prefects men" he thought

Maddy excused herself to be in her room by herself, Zoe was out playing, Mark went straight to the Prefects house, he was absolutely furious at how the soldiers had acted.

When he got there he simply shoved the guard aside and opened the door, just as the prefect was having one off his customary large meals.

"Ah, Knight-captain I do hope your interruption is important?" he asked annoyed.

"The discipline among your soldiers is below all standards prefect" Mark thundered at him,

"I had to stop one off your patrols from molesting an innocent young girl this morning" he continued.

"The citizens of Nova Rose need to know who's in charge! The prefect tried to defend, and added;

"And need I remind you that I AM your superior, you may be the lord's brother but here I AM IN CHARGE, remember who you are and where your loyalties SHOULD be young knight-captain" he spat.

"Then it might be interesting if I should send a message to my brother telling him of how you spend more time stuffing your fat face while the people here starve, and your soldiers act like barbarians" Mark said menacingly, which made the prefect shrink from him

"How are these people ever to start respecting us when THIS is how they are treated?" he continued.

"I will see what I can do" the prefect said with as steady a voice as he could.

"I would appreciate if you do, Prefect" Mark growled, and turned around and left him to his meal.

Mark hated using his relations to Lucal in such a manner but if it was for a good cause.  
He marched back to the Shannon household and went up to the attic and noticed his other belongings had been brought there, the room wasn't large but more than enough for him,

he started by unpacking his dragon eggs and his ring.

After that he started making sure his armor was in good shape.

**Well that was chapter 2 please leave a review and also thanks to doctor anthony for beta reading and correcting! And those that don't know I advice reading doctor anthony's work as well!**


	3. Show me around

**Well here's chapter 3 and a thank you to doctor anthony for beta!**

After having checked his belongings, Mark decided to go see how Miss Shannon were doing after the mornings traumatic experience, as he came down the stairs he saw Josh standing in front of Maddy and it looked and sounded as if he was trying to apologize for something, no doubt the reason for why Maddy had run off this morning, Mark stood still and did not want to interfere as this was a family affair.

"I'm sorry for what I said Maddy, I had no right to let my frustration out on you" He said sincerely, and started scraping his feet,

"Look I'll even try and be nice about Sir Mark" he continued with a grimace,

"Please baby sister" he whined and made an exaggeratedly sad face that caused Maddy to giggle,

"Just try and keep your bad mood in check, Josh" Maddy said and hugged him.

At that Mark started down the stairs as if he hadn't just heard the conversation for which he felt a little guilty,

"Good evening everyone" he greeted them with a smile,

"Sir Mark, I forgot to thank you for helping me this morning, I don't know what would have happened if you had not…." Maddy said and trailed off,

"Think nothing of it Miss Shannon, but I do apologize for their behaviour, it was disgraceful and it shall not happen again" Mark declared and bowed to Maddy who started to blush and Josh to roll his eyes, trying to hide his grin,  
It even caused Elisabeth to smile,

"I hope you are alright though?" Mark asked gently,

"I'm fine, thank you Sir Mark" Maddy answered and smiled at him,

"I would like someone to show me around the town and its surroundings" Mark asked and smiled back at Maddy,

"I would be delighted to show you around Sir Mark" Maddy answered,

"Would that be alright Madam Shannon?" Mark asked Elisabeth, who turned around from the kitchen, and raised an eyebrow,

"Off course, not without a chaperone" he continued reassuringly at Elisabeth,

"Eh...Chaperone?" Josh asked a bit confounded, Mark turned toward him,

"It would be very inappropriate for your sister to spend time with a man unsupervised, Master Shannon" Mark explained,

Elisabeth smiled at Sir Mark; she off course could feel the very same kindness in him that Maddy could, though she wondered how such a nice young man could be related to someone like Lord Lucal.

"Well I have too much to do, and Josh will be busy with cleaning the sewers all week" Elisabeth said, which made Josh grimace, Jim who had heard the conversation came in,

"But I could…err, act as a chaperone" Jim said, with a look at Maddy who was smiling wider and wider,

"It's settled then Sir Shannon" Mark declared smiling,

"Please Sir Mark, you really don't need to call me sir, whatever title and rank I had isn't really legal anymore" Jim stated with a look of embarrassment on his hard face,

"In Draukkea a sheriff is always of noble birth, so legal or not I feel it's improper for me to refer to you as anything less" Mark stated knowingly,

"Well grandfather was actually a chieftain among the mountain clans, though that may not be the same thing as being of noble birth" Maddy rambled out,

"Actually, in Draukkea clan chieftains ARE part of the nobility, and truer nobles there are none, Miss Shannon" Mark stated,

"Well when you put it like that" Jim said defeated,

"What would you like to see first?" Maddy asked and gave him a beaming smile,

"I'd like to see the famous rose orchard; People spin tales of their beauty even in Draukkea" Mark answered.

"You don't have roses in Draukkea, Sir Mark" Elisabeth asked,

"Madam Shannon you should not ask what does not grow in Draukkea but what DOES" Mark said deadpan,

"I don't understand" Jim asked,

"Since Draukkea is largely a mountain realm there aren't much growing there at all, except the fire blossom of Drake mountain and whatever the people can grow to feed themselves, but there are also several mushrooms that the people and even goblin clans both eat and some that are used in various concoctions" Maddy rambled out almost in one sentence, which had her family stare at her with some embarrassment, except Mark who seemed to look at her in amazement,

"That is fantastic, I doubt even my tutors knew that about the mushrooms, I simply thought they were used to create drugs" Mark said in wonderment,

"Well I used to read a lot off books before the prefects men confiscated all the books, and closed the library" Maddy explained looking embarrassed.  
Mark felt more than a little guilt at that since many of the books and scrolls had been taken to Draukkea.

"Well shall we go to the orchard then, Sir Mark?" Jim who had managed to collect himself from, what he saw as; another one of his daughter's ramblings,

Mark offered her his arm, "May I have the honour, then?" he asked gently,

Maddy beamed at him and took the offered arm, and they walked out of the house.

"Do you know the history of the realms, Miss Shannon?" Mark asked as they walked,

"Do I ever Sir Mark?" Maddy answered, and before Jim could stop her she started telling of the history of Terrania, from its beginnings as a land dominated by warring clans – to the kingdom it was up until a few decades ago when the last king died without any children.

"Off course that is only a short draft, a short version, though sadly my knowledge of Draukkean history is very lacking Sir Mark" Maddy gasped.

Jim was hoping she wouldn't bore the young knight with her ramblings; But Sir Mark simply listened with rapt attention, as they neared the entrance to the orchard, Mark turned to Maddy wonder in his eyes,

"Miss Shannon, with that knowledge you should be writing the books, not just reading them" he stated,

"Off ALL the boys she could encounter, and THIS draukkean is the only one that is not intimidated by her knowledge and her rambling?" Jim thought frustrated, it was true that Maddy was extremely learned and for which Jim and Elisabeth was very proud, but it DID scare off any potential suitors, not that Jim had any problems with that.  
It was also the right of the prefect and any of his officers to have a newlywed bride on her wedding night before her husband, this had caused the people of Nova Rose to avoid getting married and even hate their occupiers more, and Jim would rather die than allow that fat pig OR his men to touch Maddy or any of his family.

They entered the rose orchard and Mark could not but wonder at the breathtaking beauty of it all, roses of all conceivable colours all around and at the centre of the orchard were the fabled spirit roses that were said to have magical abilities, and would glow whenever a pure queen was ruling the kingdom, In reality Terrania was ruled by queens rather than kings unless a son inherited the throne without any sisters.  
He had to tear himself from the sight to listen to Maddy explaining the names of every kind of rose and its meaning.

As they talked they didn't see the beautiful hawk that flew not far above them, soared for a while and then flew down to the Shannon house as Josh Shannon was leaving, as the hawk came in Josh at first was surprised but when he recognized it he extended his right arm.

"There you are, my lovely friend" he said as he caressed the bird's feathers with his fingers, one thing Josh had always loved about this hawk was that her eyes were azure blue,  
plus that the hawk had come to him and only seemed to like him.

"At least YOU understand how it is to be free" he said,  
and started telling the hawk of his day and about Maddy and her obvious crush on this young knight from the enemy realm, Josh didn't know if the hawk could understand him but he liked talking to it anyway, and the hawk always observing him with her eyes that were as blue as the very sky itself, then she jumped up to his shoulder and gently touched his cheek with her beak after which she took flight once more and flew south toward the mountains that separated Nova Rose Valley from Terra Valley.

Meanwhile in Terra Valley

When Nova Rose valley fell to Lucal's forces the surviving Knights of the Rose as well as the Knights of Terra had gathered and managed to fend off the draukkean forces, it had been a stalemate ever since.  
The knights of the Rose were led by the shield maiden Lady Alicia and the Knights of Terra were led by Lord Nathaniel, together with the sixth royal Terranian Company led by Captain Dame Mira, as well as the feared Terranian Rangers led by Ranger-captain Sir Benjamir, they had been preparing for years to take the battle to the enemy once more.

A grey-almost white haired and bearded knight banged on the door to the inn, it was night so most of the town was by now sleeping, the door opened to reveal a scruffy looking soldier with un shaven face and dark brown hair looked at the old knight and nodded,

"Lord Nathaniel, welcome back, the others are already here" the soldier said

"Thank you lieutenant Carter", Nathaniel said and went in, at a table in the corner sat Lady Alicia and the commander of the sixth company Captain Dame Mira, her stern dark features almost in shadows thanks to the dimly lit inn, Nathaniel sat down with them and looked around,

"We are all here except where is Sir Shannon?" Nathaniel asked,

"I am right here my lord" a dark whisper of a voice, and a man in a rangers cloak and hood that almost seemed to appear out of the shadows said, he moved silently towards the table and sat down with the others and used a match from the fire to light his pipe.

Both Lady Alicia and Captain Mira grinned and Lord Nathaniel glared at him,

"Damn it Benjamir, why can't you at least make SOME noise when you approach?" Nathaniel half growled at Ranger-Captain Ben (as he preferred to be called) Shannon who simply smiled mischievously at him and removed his hood to reveal a face marred by a few scars cutting over it with hard grey eyes and slightly pointed ears, exposing his elfin heritage.

Mira laughed and Alicia joined in,

"You'll have to excuse my husband my lord, unless he gets to puff on his pipe a few times a day, he forgets all courtesy" Mira said smiling at Ben who smirked at her,  
there was love there she knew but ever since the draukkeans had conquered Nova Rose valley Ben had all but stopped smiling, as he worried about his brother Jim and his family that was still there.  
Mira and Ben had married just before the draukkean invasion ten years past and had now a little daughter Sienna, five years old.

"We actually made a bet on how long he was going to stand there, and I lost" Alicia said as she fished up a gold coin from her pocket and gave it to Mira who looked more than a little smug.

"Off course, I knew he hadn't gotten to smoke that beloved pipe of his yet so he had to come forth sooner or later", she said and smirked at Nathaniel who glared at her,

"Well let's get down to the matter at hand then shall we" he said.

"How goes the training of the troops, Mira?" Nathaniel asked,

"It goes a pace, the few that managed to flee after the loss of Nova Rose are proving able recruits" Mira answered,

"And we have been getting word from the mountain clans as well, when the moment comes they will cut off the only route into Nova Rose valley from Draukkea" she continued,

"Good, and what have the Rangers found out?" Nathaniel asked Ben who blew out smoke,

"Lord Lucal seems to have sent a new detachment of knights to Nova Rose, they wore tabards with a dragon on them" Ben answered calmly, Nathaniel never ceased to amaze at how calm the man could be.  
"Probably why he is so good at what he does" Nathaniel thought.

They knew that the draukkean Order of the Dragon were legendary having fought goblins and the occasional orch band in the ancient mountains of Draukkea had hardened them into fearless warriors.

"But they have always been honourable according to what I know of them they follow the code of chivalry just as strict as we do, Nathaniel" Alicia said,

There was a gentle knock on the door to the inn, and Carter opened it grumbling about being a damn door opener,  
In came a young woman with azure blue eyes and dark blonde almost brown hair and an almost impish smile on her face, she was dressed in a simple green dress, as soon as he saw her Nathaniel rose from his seat and smiled at her,

"Skye, I was worried about you" he said relieved, she smiled at him and embraced him,

"Father, you need not worry as I can take care of myself" she assured him,

"Don't I know it, so what have you found out?" he asked

"There's a new detachment of knights from Draukkea in Nova Rose" she said,

"That we know" Alicia said grinding her teeth, She absolutely hated the fact that not only did foreign soldiers defiling her home but now also some foreign knight order was desecrating the streets and homes of the town and valley she had sworn to defend.

"And they are being led by the brother of Lord Lucal himself" Skye stated, unfazed by Lady Alicia's interruption,

"And his name?" Mira asked,

"Knight-captain Marcus Blackheart, and according to my source and what I could observe, he seems very different than his brother" Skye said, she then turned to her father,

"Father I hate having to use Josh this way" she stated sadly,

"Have you revealed yourself to him?" Nathaniel asked,

"No" she answered,

"Good as long as he doesn't know, neither he nor his family should be in any danger" Nathaniel said,

"But I hate to deceive him like this" she stated,

When Skye's powers as a witch revealed themselves Nathaniel had been proud of his daughter, she had inherited from her mother who died years ago in an ambush by draukkean soldiers.

"Do not worry Skye, when the time comes he may learn the truth without endangering him or his family" Nathaniel said,

"And that will come soon" Mira said with certainty,

"Yes our forces are up to five thousand men at arms including the two knightly orders and the rangers, and with the mountain clans we get an extra two thousand" She continued,

"So it's really almost over, after years of wait, we are finally going to throw out those draukkean interlopers" Alicia stated angrily,

"Don't forget Lady Alicia, the draukkeans may have taken Nova Rose with only three thousand men, but they should have at least twice that amount if not more in Draukkea to throw at us" Ben added,

"That is why I want you and your Rangers to start attacking inside Draukkea, to draw as much of their forces as possible, while they're busy trying to hunt you down, we will be able to strike at Nova Rose" Nathaniel said,

"I'll start preparations right away my lord" Ben said

The meeting was interrupted when a little girl with light brown skin came out of a room behind the desk, Mira turned toward her,

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep Sienna?" she asked semi sternly,

"I wanted to wait up for Daddy to come home first Mommy" the little girl stated innocently, and then she saw Ben she came running and was caught as he lifted her into his arms and kissed her forehead, and his entire façade simply fell off,

"Let's get you back to bed then little lady" Ben said gently,

"Will you sing me to sleep Daddy?" She asked, giving Ben a look he could never say no to, which caused some snickering from both his wife and the others at the table and made his face go a little red.

"Off course I will sweetie" Ben said after giving the others a glare,

A few moments later they could all hear him sing to Sienna in the elfish tongue, which made all of them even the otherwise gruff Carter to smile at the sheer beauty of his voice,

The Shannon family were descended from Elvin blood was not lost on anyone hearing him sing, though according to Ben his brother Jim could barely carry a tune.

**Please leave a review of what you think of this!**


	4. Chapter 4 History

**So here's finally chapter 4 enjoy**

A few days after they had visited the orchard, they decided to take a short ride outside the town, together with a few knights from Mark's order they were about to visit an outlying Halfling village called Rosebud.

As they were riding through the countryside, Mark listened to Maddy as she explained of how the Halflings superior farming and food was always appreciated in both valleys, with Jim taking up the rear, eying Mark in confused suspicion.

When they reached the village of Rosebud,

"The Halflings are the best farmers and can make the most wonderful food" Maddy said and inhaled the smells coming from the village.

Mark inhaled and let out a sigh, Maddy was right the smells from the various kitchens in the entire village _accosted_ his nostrils.

The food in Draukkea was quite simple really; the flour they used to make bread was made from dried and powdered Grey-mushroom which made it look like it was made off mud, and it was sometimes cut with a mineral found in the mountains and sometimes fragranced with various other mushrooms.

"Other than mushrooms, the only other food we have is milk, cheese and meat from mountain goats and cave dwelling reptiles, and whatever cattle creatures that can survive in Draukkea" Mark said plainly,

Both Jim and Maddy looked at him as if he just grew a second head.

"No other food of any kind?" Maddy asked despondently,

"Not that I would call _food_, though the Grey dwarves living in the deep cave systems do have some disgusting eating habits" Mark answered with a grimace, Maddy looked at him puzzled,

"Draukkea is in many ways a largely wild and untamed land" he continued.

Maddy looked at him as he was rummaging through one of his saddle bags, and produced a thick book which he handed over to her.

"You said your knowledge of my people's history was lacking, well this is the first part of the history of Draukkea, and I'd like you to have it as a gift, it is also translated into the common tongue" He said,

Maddy felt elated as she took the book and held it as if it was a precious thing, When she took the book she noticed a ring on a gold chain around his neck, it was off two dragons intertwining and meeting together holding a purple pearl between their mouths.

As Maddy sat down beside Sir Mark and then stared to read the first page of the book she frowned, there were two sets of year accounting at the top of the page it first said _the first age of the Dragon Goddess_ _and ten thousand years before the moon goddess_, The Moon Goddess or _Lunaia_ was her people's main deity she guessed the _Dragon Goddess_ must be the deity of the draukkeans, she read on,

_Here follows the account of when the Dragon Goddess Tiamath breathed life into the first draukkeans as she decided the world needed a race of guardians against the forces of chaos,_

_When the world was still in its infancy demons walked the land until Tiamath together with the elder gods threw the demons back into hell and sealed the rift by melting the mountains on it and thereby creating the world's edge mountains, but they could not stop the demons spreading their evil influence so each deity set about to create their own race of guardians for the world, and as the elder gods were busy creating the younger gods their children they mocked Tiamath and said "Why what could YOU create other than reptiles that dwells in the bowels of the world?" for even gods can be like children sometimes._

_Tiamath did not let the others arouse her anger even though she was dismayed about they're ungratefulness, so she created the first dragons to walk and fly the world specifically to guard the mountains where they had sealed the rift to Hell, and her children spread over the world, the other gods at first mocked her creations as THEY themselves had made the younger gods to act as their successors and guard their later creations, but then they saw how wise the dragons were as they hungered for knowledge and the elder gods could naught do anything but be silent feeling shame about mocking Tiamath, so instead of taunting her they set about creating the first stirrings of life that would walk the lands._

_Terra the goddess of Earth made the first dwarves, while Nova goddess of the stars created the elves, and Aeon god of sky made the first titans and giants, Mannareth god of growing things made the first treants to be the world's gardeners, Wyrm god water created the first serpents and snake men, and then Terra and Nova decided on creating another race with all the traits that their first creations had, and when they were finished the race of men or humans and also children of the plains saw their first day, the humans had almost the sturdiness and tenacity of the dwarves and almost the beauty of the elves but they also had the stubborn pride and greed of the dwarves, and the arrogance of the elves without either races control of these traits,  
the other gods wanted to destroy this abomination but Tiamath looked into the heart of man and saw the capacity for good as well as the capacity for evil as in any other race but unlike elves and dwarves that more easily could choose good rather than evil, the race of men could not decide and Tiamath saw that humans were innocent and lifted her wings to protect the young race,_

"_Stay your hands, for these creatures deserves their chance as well as any of our children" she roared, and Terra and Nova who had earlier taunted Tiamath now felt shame but also love for their sister for standing up for their mistake and stood at her side, the other gods saw the folly in their arrogance and backed away and the race of men spread across the world._

_It was in that moment that Phlemigon the high king of hell saw his chance at revenge and to sow discord among the gods and influenced some of the younger gods who was jealous of their parents to influence some of their children, and so innumerable new races and sub races were born, even Lucallouth god of dark places in his jealousy decided on making a master race to one day rule the world in his name and thus the first orchs were made and later more followed like goblins and ogres, and these races spread and started great wars, they were short-lived but bred in vast numbers._

_Tiamath knew what had happened and cried and her tears when they fell on the world turned into the precious stones that dwarves dug after and found most beautiful,  
Terra and Nova tried to comfort their sister and said: "Sister your sadness hurts us though your tears turn into beauty, why not create another race of your own to further bolster the defence against chaos?" they pleaded, and Tiamath listened and set about to create a race that would bridge the gap between her race of dragons and the races of men and elves and dwarves, when she was finished her sisters awed at her cleverness for her youngest children could be as wise and powerful as the dragons as strong and sturdy as the dwarves and rivaled the elves in beauty and cunning and even more stubborn than humans and the first draukks were born._

_The draukks wandered the realms created by the children of the other gods both elder and younger, until they came upon the great mountains of the world were their elder siblings the dragons lived, and the dragons recognized their younger siblings and both races were tied together and founded their first realms, and that saw the rise of the dragon lords, and both dragon and draukks could not be corrupted unless by a member of another race they trusted, and as they trusted no others except elves and dwarves they did not worry, but in their hearts burned a fierce desire for battle and would fight for whatever reason they thought was worthwhile, and Tiamath spoke to them both and said_

"_You are my guardians, but you must also take great care, for what one do all do be it good or bad, you will all share the pride or the shame together" she declared and her children listened and promised her that they would forever guard against chaos and protect the other races, for when she made the draukks she had still been both sad and angry at the discord that now spread amongst the other gods and races and the draukks highest wish was to reunite the children of the gods and spoke to the only three races they trusted first their elder siblings the dragons and the elves and the dwarves and they listened and the four races made a pact that endured for thousands of years._

_It was in the second age of the alliance when an elven prince named Sileas had tried to dethrone his brother out of jealousy but was defeated and cast out, for this deed he and his followers were forever known as dark elves, they were driven into remote regions were they plotted they're revenge, Sileas planned studied infernal magic and intended open a rift to Hell and bring forth an army of demons to do his bidding the spell went awry and slew Sileas and brought forth a host of demons that brought destruction on the world until finally defeated by the alliance, but the alliance was shattered when the elves divided even more as they could no longer trust themselves fully, and the dwarves decided to pull back from the world to seek riches in and beneath the mountains, and the dragons dismayed at the folly of the others and the draukks sadness over the elves being divided, and that humans now feared and hated both them and dragons pulled back into their mountains and the draukks setting out on their own as they felt sad over the events even though the dragons felt pained that their younger siblings were leaving, they watched over them as older siblings do._

_This event was called the sundering._

_It was hundreds of years later that a tribe of draukks found the ancient mountains and under their high lord Draukkeos founded the realm of Draukkea and the third age started_

Maddy raised her head and realized it was getting dark and that her father had fallen asleep leaning at a nearby tree and Sir Mark was talking to the Halfling village chief and gave a few coins to him and walked up to where Maddy were sitting,

"It seems we are here for the night I have made arrangements with the chief, he owns the inn and has agreed to give us some rooms for the night" he said smiling as she yawned and stretched her limbs,

"Sir Mark, what reckoning do your people follow?" she asked, Mark looked at her a bit surprised,

"we follow by dragon reckoning what you would call age reckoning, for example it is now the year 999 DR in the third age" he explained as he helped her up, it wasn't needed of him to do so as she could get up by herself but that he was willing to help a common girl like her simply made her swoon,

"We follow age reckoning as well, but I had no Idea that they were one and the same!?" she exclaimed,

"Well different people call it by different name, draukkeans call by our goddess as a sign of respect to her, I'd guess some of your people might call it _Earth goddess or Star goddess reckoning _instead" Mark said,

"What god or goddess do you worship" he then asked,

"I follow Lunaia the Moon goddess, she is the daughter of Mannareth the god of growing things and of Nova the goddess of the stars" Maddy answered, Mark nodded and offered her his arm, she beamed at him and took it as he led her to the inn while two of his knights carried her still snoring father**.**


	5. Learning

When Mark woke up the morning after, he went and found his knights and prepared for their morning prayer when he noticed a group of the soldiers that were tasked with patrolling the countryside coming up to them,

"Knight-Captain sir, may we join in the prayer?" the officer asked

"Off course, but I thought most of you were followers of the burning god?" Mark asked

"No sir, but we dare not go against the edict made by the prefect forbidding any soldier to worship Tiamath anymore" the officer said, at Mark's utterly surprised look he continued,

"We are only to worship the burning god, but most of us anyway do not want to" the officer claimed

"Then I shall have a talk with the prefect, in the meantime you and your men are welcome to join us" Mark said, and they all kneeled down in a field outside the village when Maddy came out of the inn after having washed her hair and then brushed it, she saw the soldiers and knights kneeling down on the field and she sneaked closer and stood behind a tree and listened or tried to anyway since Mark was speaking in the draukkean language, but she could at least watch

"Rydym yn rhoi teyrnged i'r dduwies Ddraig" Mark chanted and the soldiers and knights chanted with him, Maddy didn't understand WHAT they were chanting exactly but she listened and tried to memorize.

After the Morning Prayer the draukkeans started packing up, the soldiers was going with them back to Nova Rose and Mark took the officer aside,

"What is your name officer?" he asked, and the officer straightened up,

"Lieutenant Leo Curran my lord" he answered,

"Well then Lieutenant what can you tell me as to why you do not want to follow the edict?"

"Well sir, me and many of the soldiers here in Nova Rose started noticing a change in the ones we knew truly converted, and they were….well different not like they were when we first came here, it was as if they had become more ruthless sir" Curran said bitterly

"How many of you are there that still honors Tiamath?" Mark queried

"At least half I would think sir" Curran replied

"Then I want you to talk to that half and tell them they are more than welcome to prayers with us" Mark said

"Thank you your Excellency" Curran responded with a smile, and saluted and marched away to his men who looked equally happy as he did.

Mark was thinking there were three thousand Draukkean soldiers and knights in Nova Rose among whom at least two thousand guarded the city and another thousand were in small forts at the border with Terra Valley with smaller detachments patrolling the countryside, he couldn't understand why Lucal would allow it to go this far, remembering the very first commandment from the holy books

"_What one does ALL does_" meaning if only ONE Draukk betrayed faith with the path set for them by Tiamath then ALL Draukks would carry the shame, it was more than simple dogma it was deeply ingrained into their spirit as a race, he would have to figure that out later as he was heading into the field for the mornings training exercise the knights and most of all the paladins of the Order of the Dragon or Order of Tiamath as it was called from the beginning though the name Tiamath was not a popular one with his brother, Mark had always held a strong hope he would be able to help Lucal see reason, as he removed most of his clothing except for his trousers and they stared their usual hard exercise.

When Maddy saw him remove his shirt she literally swooned and almost fainted at the sight of his perfectly muscled upper body, she felt a little guilty spying on them or rather him as she barely noticed the others similarly lack of clothing, they were doing some strange form of un armed combat including a lot of acrobatics,

Maddy was so busy with watching that she almost jumped out of her skin when a hand gently grabbed her shoulder,

"Madelyn Shannon, what are you doing staring at half naked men like that?" Jim hissed at his daughter that were going from her usual olive skin color to a very bright red,

"Sorry daddy, I was just observing their religious ritual and then they sort of started to…." She stammered, but Jim dragged her away back to the inn.

"it's time for breakfast anyway young lady, and you're not even going to see him" Jim started but then saw the sadness in his daughters eyes and added quickly "Not until he is fully clothed again" he said,

"_I swear by the bones of my fathers, she will never need her witchcraft to snare any boy now or later, all she needs to do is look at them with those eyes of hers, I'm her father and should be immune to that but NO!_" Jim thought annoyed by his complete lack of authority when his daughter wanted something ANY of his daughters even Elisabeth used to do that to him, "_Something Sir Mark will learn sooner or later"_ he thought as they sat down and he called for the innkeeper to get them something to eat,

"I'd like to wait for Sir Mark daddy, pleeeease?" Maddy said with big amber brown eyes, Jim simply sighed

After they had finished the morning exercise the soldiers were breaking the little camp they had erected outside of the village and the knights went about to get something to eat, Mark went to the inn to see if Maddy would want to have breakfast, when he entered the inn he was met by a smiling Miss Shannon,

"I was going to ask you and your father to join me for breakfast" Mark started

"I was going to ask you the same Sir Mark" Maddy beamed at him, Mark smiled back and followed her to the table where her father already sat grumbling and rolled his eyes when Mark drew a chair for Maddy before sitting down himself, and the innkeeper who was also the mayor of the town clapped his hands and his daughters and sons started serving breakfast to them,

"Sir Mark I would like to ask you something about your race's history it says that your goddess told you that what _one does all does_, what does that mean?" she asked

"It means if one draukk stray from the true path let's say one of us turn to chaos then he or she have not only betrayed their race but all living creatures and gods as well, our reason to exist is to guard and if possible reunite the world….but of course not in the way my brother believes" Mark explained

"But the actions of one, how could that be the fault of the rest of you?" Maddy asked, Mark could see the moist in her eyes

"If only one betrays us then we are all at fault if we fail to prevent that betrayal" Mark explained deadpan

"But what if a draukk is tricked into thinking that he is doing the right thing by someone evil?" Maddy retorted

"The offender however innocent would have to go into exile until the betrayal have been forgiven, and if any other innocents have been harmed in any way then the betrayal have to be forgiven by them as well, but forgiveness shall not come lightly it must be earned" Mark elaborated,

"It seems very harsh laws to put on just one people" she said glumly, and looked a bit sad until Mark touched her hand

"Miss Shannon, you may not be a queen but you have the _Calon lan_ of one" Mark declared, Maddy looked puzzled and Jim looked completely clueless, Mark smiled

"It is draconic for _Pure heart_, you have a pure heart Madelyn Shannon" Mark said and smiled innocently at her, Maddy's eyes were now absolutely sparkling like star shine now Jim were rolling his eyes so they were barely visible

"_By Terra and by Nova, and by every god and goddess and their parents, why does she have to go and fall in love with a draukkean?_" Jim thought almost depressively as he watched his daughter practically swoon at all but every word that came out of this knight,

"_THIS is going to be trouble when the rest of the city finds out that my daughter is infatuated with not just A draukkean but the brother of the very man that rules Draukkea!_" Jim thought again,

"Sir Mark, could you teach me draconic?" Maddy suddenly asked, the question made Jim's jaw drop

"I would love to Miss Shannon; you know you would bring any scholar to shame with your curiosity and love of learning" Mark replied admiringly

"Well we aren't allowed to have books in Nova Rose, Sir Mark" Maddy said sadly

"Then see the book I gave you as your own, and do not worry about permission, I'll take care of it after all has to be good for something other than having people bowing and scraping their feet at me all day" Mark said which made Maddy giggle and even Jim felt his lips twitch a little.

**Ok to those that wonder I'm using welsh for the "draconic" language I thought it most proper. So the phrase "****Rydym yn rhoi teyrnged i'r dduwies Ddraig"** ** "We give homage to the dragon goddess", if there are any welsh or Gaelic speaker among you that may read this I'd be REALLY happy for some good input since I speak neither of those great languages.**


End file.
